Internet How to Tips

The Internet is a tool for communication that gives people the opportunity to interact in a manner not possible by other means of communication. The opportunities and things you can do on the Internet are comprehensive. However, this freedom means that there are also pitfalls to watch out for. Thre are some internet how-to tips which can help you get started.

Email

Email is short for electronic mail. This Internet tool allows people to send files, images or other attachments to specified individuals or groups through a network. In order to send and receive email messages, you have to use an online email service l like Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or Gmail. You can also use email programs like Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook. Most email services are free, requiring only that you sign up and create a free account.

Browsers

A browser is a program you can use to view files on the Internet. Some browsers, like Lynx, only allow you to view the text of a file on the Web; other browsers are graphical browsers, used to view graphics and multimedia information. Some examples of such browsers include Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera. At the top of your browser, there is in address bar, where you see the address of an individual site. This is the Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. This address will help you locate the site next time, if you forget to bookmark it.

Watching TV

You may wonder whether watching free TV on the Internet is legal. It depends on how watching you are watching TV programs. BitTorrents and TV streaming sites are examples of illegal ways to watch free TV because the shows are shared by people who do not have rights to the copyright. Some sites, like Netflix, require a small membership fee. Many other sites, like Hulu, Joost, Discovery Channel, History Channel, ABC, FX, and Fox, offer free TV shows; however, you have to put up with the inconvenience of advertisements.

Safety

Internet safety is an important topic that has many angles. There is the personal angle, which involves personal safety. You have to be careful about the kind of people you communicate with on social networking sites. That is because there are predators looking for victims on the Internet. Then there is the issue of computer safety. Be careful about clicking on unfamiliar links and visiting unknown sites, to avoid infecting your computer with spyware or computer viruses.